Heretofore, there had not been developed any generally acceptable or workable mattress foundation apparatus which lent itself to easy manipulation and ready handling by the housewife, which could be economically manufactured, which would be capable of being produced by molding, which would obviate the need of the conventional coil springs or box springs, which would afford an inelastic resistance to the pressure and weight on the mattress, and which would be reliable, rigid and durable after long periods of usage. Consequently, there developed a desideratum having the aforementioned advantages and qualities, especially among individuals having back and other orthopedic problems. The apparent animadversion set forth hereinabove with respect to the prior art developments will be seen to be quite accurate and justified by directing attention to the following prior art developments discussed hereinbelow.
In 1874 John Harper was granted U.S. Pat. No. 153,075 entitled "BED-BOTTOMS" which discloses a mattress support apparatus which is more rigid than box or coil springs, but which still does not provide a rigid and continuous inelastic support for a mattress. In essence, Harper discloses combination wooden and metal springs in the form of individual spaced apart slats.
In 1893 Edward Rowcliffe Billington was granted U.S. Pat. No. 493,147 entitled "WOVEN-WIRE MATTRESS" which discloses elastic metallic mattresses which are especially useful for lunatics and persons suffering from other diseases, infants, and children. Billington discloses vertically upwardly projecting sides which stand considerably above the level of the mattress bottom.
In 1962 Horace N. Broyles was granted U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,729 entitled "BED CONSTRUCTION" which discloses a rigid support for rubber mattresses in which the support is in the form of a downwardly opening hollow shell. Broyles fails to disclose solid support members depending downwardly from the upper support surface, nor any solid support members which are integral with or contact the side walls of the support structure, nor a continuous raised ridge around the foundation apparatus.
In 1975 John Calvin Jureit and Andrew G. Seipos were granted U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,091 entitled "BED FRAME CONSTRUCTION" which discloses a bed frame having a pair of side rails, a pair of end rails, and several intermediate slats. Jureit et al fails to disclose a continuous upper component, nor a continuous raised ridge unitary with and projecting above the upper surface of the upper component of the foundation apparatus.
The present invention eliminates the disadvantages and shortcomings attendent with the conventional and prior art techniques, and at the same time provides an apparatus and method which eminently fulfills the desideratum mentioned hereinabove with a minimum of parts and at an extremely surprising reduced cost of manufacture.